


Lynched

by MoonPudding



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werewolf, possible OOC; I tried my best though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-23
Updated: 2014-06-23
Packaged: 2018-02-05 21:45:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1833352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonPudding/pseuds/MoonPudding
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a very small rural area, Rose Lalonde faces an not-so-ordinary life with her brother and their friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lynched

**Author's Note:**

> Old fanfic by a couple of years or so, but one that I'm still fond of. I'm afraid that I don't participate in the homestuck fandom much, if at all, anymore, but I still hope that you enjoy!
> 
> Additionally, Jade is a couple of years younger than John in this, for some reason. Just... roll with it, I suppose!

It was a fine day, thought Rose. It was a fine day, perfect for picking berries from the bushes. Unfortunately for her family, she was not the type to pick berries. In fact, she would much rather sit inside and bustle around reading.

That is exactly what Rose was doing when Dave came in, hoisting his Winchester rifle over his shoulders. She pursed her lips and glanced at him over her spectacles, quirking an eyebrow.

In their house, there was no need for words; they communicated entirely with gestures and expressions... At least, that is until they fought over food and how to do certain things.

Dave grunted and gave a shrug, afterward jerking his head outside.

Hunting. Of course. She should have guessed by the small, limp rabbit hanging by its ears from his hands, blood matted all over its fur and over his hand. ...Well, at least she knew what kind of stew she was making tonight. She just hoped Dave would not mind the insane amount of potatoes that she would put in. Potato-and-rabbit stew was quite lovely, if she said so. And she did.

He tossed it into the kitchen and slumped next to her, sighing before putting his hat on the arm of the love seat and glancing at her.

"Hey, Rose?"

"Yes, David?"

"...Never mind."

He shook his head, stood and removed his coat, then headed to his room. Rose sighed and remained where she was, resuming reading after half an hour of pondering. He was going to inquire as to their parents' fate, and she supposed that Dave had finally learned that she would never have an answer.

Never.

That night, Rose cried herself to sleep, concealing it by muffling herself with her pillow. Dave mustn't find out. She knew what had happened to their parents, and she suspected he knew too, but he didn't want a confirmation. She, however, had confirmed it for herself. She refused to confirm it for her brother as well.

***

She was rudely awakened that morning. Groggily, she glanced around the room for the source of the movement that had waken her up. Dave was leaning against the wall, John was standing next to him (and looking rather dapper in a nice suit), and ... There was the reason for her awakening. Jade and Becquerel, the Egberts' pet dog, were on her bed. Becquerel was halfway onto the bed but Jade was entirely on it.

Rose sighed and rolled over before she sat and rubbed at her eyes.

"What, for the love of Pete and whatever Saints you worship, do you want, at..." Rose glanced out the window, "...Three in the morning? What the hell, David? That's three hours too early."

"Hey, blame the freaks," Dave mumbled around a stick of wheat in his mouth. "They wanted to come over and Jade refused to let you sleep anymore." He shrugged, his mouth pulling up at the corners.

"Fine." Rose threw the covers off of herself, uncaring whether or not she was in her nightgown or naked. Fortunately for her male audience, she was indeed clad in a nightgown.

"So, friends," said Rose, although there was more malice than she had intended for in her tone, "What are our frivolous plans for today? Will we go swimming in the river? Will we spend hours upon hours poking at a mud puddle? Or, heavens forbid, will we even venture into the supposedly-haunted mansion?"

"Rose!" Jade did not appreciate the silly gestures she made to accompany the last sentence. "It's seriously haunted! I swear!"

"Jade," said John. "I believe you, even if they don't." He was grinning, and Rose suspected that he was saying it only to pacify his younger sister. It was effective, however, for Jade scrambled off of the bed and jumped to her feet, grinning widely.

"Come on! To the mansion!"

The rest of the day was quite uneventful (except for an occurrence where Dave jumped out from behind a door in the mansion and startled John and Jade into screaming bloody murder while they held each other. Rose wasn't sure if her eardrums would ever recover.)

They went home with empty, hungry stomachs; John had asked for permission to come to Dave's and Rose's house for food, and his parents had said yes. Jade, being John's sister, was allowed the same treatment.

Once back at the house they settled down at the table and Rose began serving the stew.

"Jade, be careful, it's hot, don't burn yourself."

"Pffff, she's not that clumsy-- ow!"

"You're right. She's not that clumsy. You are," said Dave as he rolled his eyes at John, who was now suckling on his thumb.

"Shut up."

Jade snorted into her stew, unable to restrain herself. Rose did not snort, but found herself similarly unable to contain the laughter.

Over dinner, John announced that he had something to show them the next day, likely at night while the moonlight was roaming; he said it would be most glorious by it. Rose quirked her lips before she consumed more of her stew, encouraging the others to finish off their bowls.

Rose and Dave bid their friends goodnight at the door, and they watched until the two had disappeared into the forest. Once the door was shut again, Dave whirled to face Rose, scowling.

"Rose, come on. Let's get to sleep early, John said he had something to show us tomorrow..."

"I wonder what it is," said Rose vaguely as she read her book, barely paying him any heed.

"He said it would be the best thing we'd ever seen," grumbled Dave. He didn't sound so sure; indeed, when Rose finally managed to tear her eyes away from the book, she saw that Dave was making resolute eye contact with the wall, trying to burn a hole in it. "But you know," continued her brother, "I have a pretty foul feeling about it all. Remember that time when he found a plant and..."

"...It was poison ivy?" finished Rose. "So it's that type of feeling but more... intense?"

"Yup."

"Well," said the girl as she laid her book on her lap, her lips curling into a small smile, "That just quirked my curiosity. As they say, curiosity killed the cat. We're going whether you like it or not, dear David."

"I guessed as much," grunted Dave. "You should be fine without a lamp if you read by the window; the moon's almost full and there are barely any clouds."

Without another word, he stalked off to bed and Rose was left to read by the moonlight. She glanced out the window several times as she read, finally retiring after she reached the halfway point of her book, marking it with a ribbon John had given her recently.

She paused by the window, staring at the moon. Dave was right; it was almost entirely full. There was just one small part left. She supposed the next night, it would be completely full. ...It would be quite entertaining to just go moon-gazing with her friends. She would propose this idea after John showed them this "interesting item", she supposed.

Time to retire, then, if she were to see this so-called item the next day.

***

"Hey!" said John happily, waving wildly at the two blondes. Rose chuckled and waved back, while Dave just mumbled and kept a tight grip on his gun. Jade stood next to John, bouncing on the balls of her feet, clearly unable to keep still.

"It's a full moon!" chirped John. "That just makes the mansion even creepier!" He wiggled his fingers, mouthing "woooo" as he did so. It only served to bolster Rose's laughter and make Jade fall over clutching her sides.

"Let's go camp out under the tree by it and wait for nightfall!" sang Jade when she finally regained her breath, still chuckling lightly in-between words.

Nightfall came sooner than Rose thought. One moment, they were sitting in a sunlit field around the mansion, under a tree, and the next they were in a dark clearing empty of color- but full of moonlight. 

"Alright," said John suddenly; Rose gave a small start. He, David, and Jade had fallen into a nap, and she hadn't been expecting him to speak before prodding her. "Let's go, go, go!"

Rose gave up after a simple minute of his incessant poking and probing, as well as his whining to get started on walking toward the mansion. She enjoyed the weather; it wasn't too cold, despite being a winter night. 

"Wait, did anyone hear that?" said Jade out of nowhere, her voice frightened. Before anyone could respond, a dark shadow shot past them and Dave grit his teeth, growling as he readied his firearm.

"That looked like a wolf or a bear! Whoa!" said John with so much excitement that Rose didn't doubt that he had probably wet his trousers.

"Ignore it," said Rose quietly. "It's probably just a deer; they're rare at this time of year, but still around."

"Eh," said Dave, "Let's just get to this goddamn thing you want to show us so we can go home. I don't like it out here, it's too..." He frowned, racking his mind for a good word. He must have failed, for he went silent, brooding as John led them happily across blue-tinted fields of dirt.

Once they'd proceeded past the mansion, they came to a clearing filled with flowers that were in full bloom despite it being winter; they didn't even seem to be shriveled up. Even by the pale moonlight, she could tell that they were a rich purple color, their tips pointed and waving in the slight breeze.

"Look," said John. "They grow only in winter, and open only at night. Isn't it great?"

He was grinning so brilliantly that Rose couldn't bring herself to say that she had expected something so much more exciting, so she settled for a simple "Yes, it is great, John," and was about to relay this to him when Jade let out a shrill yell and Dave grunted, leaping to action, his rifle in his hands already.

"Duck!" shouted Dave; Rose threw herself at John and crashed along with him to the ground, groaning. Okay, so the ground wasn't so soft in winter. At least they weren't ripped apart in the jugulars... Yet. Seconds later, she heard a squeal from Jade, which must've meant she ducked too--

A loud gunshot echoed throughout the clearing, and a high-pitched howl of pain accompanied it. Dave had landed a bullet into the creature's flesh; Rose dared to lift her eyes from John's hair to watch what was going on. It was a large wolf, slavering as it limped along--Dave had hit it in the leg. It was probably still nimble despite its injury, however, and Rose was proved correct in this train of thought as it leaped into the air, a small trail of blood leaking from it as it went. 

Rose attempted to resist the urge to gasp, but ultimately failed; the wolf snarled as its eyes narrowed. A paw shot into the air, and Rose held her breath uneasily, eyes as big as dinner plates while her heart went at the speed of a hummingbird's wings.

The wolf's snarling lowered and it flexed its paws, and Rose realized how hot its breath was; how close it was to her face. Its claws caught the gleam of the moonlight, and the moonlight reflected in its hungry orange eyes.

Her life ran through her mind, accompanying the thoughts of what the beast was going to do. Would it rip her apart in its teeth, savoring her blood and flesh? Would it claw her with its fearsome paws and leave her corpse for the crows? Would it even drag her off and torment her for days before either eating or letting her go, after it had finally gotten bored of her…?

"Rose!" shouted Dave again as memories of frolicking stupidly in a meadow with (actually, it was more like being dragged by) Jade and John while Dave absolutely refused to join them, began to run through her mind. Why her mind decided to replay stupid, more innocent moments, instead of her last few moments of her life, such as wandering to the mansion and witnessing the beautiful night colors, escaped her.

Another gunshot accompanied Dave's frantic voice, and the wolf screeched. Rose felt its claws dig into her shoulder as it scrabbled to get off. It eventually did, and scampered off toward John and Jade as Rose crawled onto her knees, groaning. Her shoulders hurt, but at least they weren't bleeding too severely and the wounds didn't seem too large.

She slowly got up, looking around for the creature. Ah, there it was, snarling and ripping at John with its claws while he yelled pitifully into the night, Jade crying out as she ran toward it in an attempt to scare it off. It stopped clawing at John to snap at Jade, but Rose couldn't see if its teeth made contact as Jade fell backward with a yelp of surprise; it proceeded to leap off of John, who wasn't moving anymore, and onto Jade. Seeming to be pleased with its new perch, it rose its claws and prepared to slash at poor Jade until a gunshot pierced its back, spraying blood everywhere; it let out a howl of agony and finally tore off for the forest.

Dave swore loudly into the night, shaking a fist at the beast as it fled into the trees beyond the mansion, its pelt disappearing within a few seconds. Rose hurried to John, clambering onto her hands and knees in front of him, trying to get him to his feet. He was quicker to rouse than she had believed he would be, and was thankful for this, though he was panting raggedly, shaking. Jade seemed better off than him, as she got to her feet on her own, dusting herself off before coming over to help support John.

"Just great. We need to get back to the town, and tell them that there's a stupid wolf wandering. We need to kill the damn thing before it kills one of us," growled Dave as he kicked at a stray rock in annoyance.

"Okay," said John sheepishly, "that's enough adventures for today! Er, tonight. Come on, Jade, I'll get you home..." He smiled and patted his sister's back before slumping somewhat, supported mostly by her. Jade was hunched over and shuddering but seemed relatively unhurt, Rose noted--fright perhaps. John seemed to have a few heavy wounds, while Jade seemed to have lighter ones, and even Dave had a large scratch on his cheek. The wolf must've been quick enough to strike all of them before it fled. It surprised her that not a single one of them was dead; the wolf could have killed one of them if it had wished to. Perhaps it had only wanted to "play," then, and was just toying with them to get a taste of fear.

"He's got it under control," said Rose as she threw out an arm to stop Dave from approaching the Egbert siblings. "We should be going home as well; we'll be in trouble if we're not found in the village by sunrise."

He grunted and slung his rifle over his shoulders, eyebrows knitting in the middle of his forehead. He was clearly wired and ready to leap to action if need be. He wouldn't let his guard down until they had reached home, and even then, he remained careful, watching out the window until Rose had finished mending to his scratches, then gone to mend her own. She could've sworn he was still peering out the window even when she finally retired to bed.

***

The next morning, she had plans: Make more rabbit stew in a pot, and bring it to the Egberts' to make sure they were okay, and then sit down and teach Jade how to sew. She'd been taking after John and Dave too much lately, tagging along with them when they went hunting; Rose thought that she should at least learn how to mend clothes and cook food so that neither of the Egberts would perish were she to suddenly up and die.

She wasn't planning on that, of course, but even plans can fall in and better safe than sorry, as they would say.

Sniffing the air as she looked up from her sewing, Rose determined that the stew must be ready. Time to go stoke David and coerce him into accompanying her to the Egberts', then. Quietly taking the pot off its hook and putting the lid on it, she headed into Dave's room, only to find him awake and blearily-eyed. He seemed to have stayed up the entire night, then.

"David," said Rose. "Are you willing to accompany me and protect me from ferocious canines, or shall I have to go to check on our dear friends, alone? So very alone, carrying a pot, which would make me more than easy prey?"

"Rose," growled Dave, "When you phrase it like that, I don't have a choice."

"My, I was merely kidding," Rose said, "I can certainly take care of myself; it is daytime and I suspect it won't be back, not after you brutalized its back with a shell." Quirking her lips in appraisal, she strolled back to the kitchen and picked up the pot, slowly making her way to the front door, where Dave was waiting. He grumbled and roughly took the pot, shoving the gun into Rose's hands.

Rose understood this to mean that he was trusting her with his life and that he'd rather she be the one able to protect herself. Well, good thing Dave had taken her out to teach her how to shoot guns before, then.

The path to the Egberts' was quite uneventful; Dave laid the pot in front of the door, rapped on it with his knuckles, then picked it up and stepped back, waiting for an answer.

"Oh! Hey, come in, it's unlocked!" shouted John, but his voice sounded somewhat strained. Worry rising from the depths, Rose quickly strode to the door, pushed it open, and ushered Dave inside, shutting it behind them and leaning the rifle against the wall before taking the pot from Dave. "Where's Jade?"

"Out. Somewhere," said John.

Rose shared a glance with Dave before she put the pot softly in the kitchen, then found her way to John's bedroom. He was splayed out face-down in it, areas of the room and bed spotted with red, though there wasn't too much of it; just enough for her to worry somewhat more.

"John, how badly did that wolf hurt you?"

"Pretty badly," he answered. "Jade's out because she's getting water to clean my wounds with so she can see just how bad they are."

Good for her, Rose thought. Good to know Jade had taken her lessons about self-care to heart, then.

"I'll go watch for her," Dave said, "And when she gets back, I need to tell the mayor of that damn wolf."

Rose nodded, listened to Dave's footsteps as they faded, and then took a seat next to John on the mattress, patting at a part of his back that didn't seem to cause him to flinch.

"It'll be fine," she said gently. "You don't seem too badly hurt." It was a fabricated lie, and she knew that he knew. 

"I know," he replied back, slightly muffled. He tried to push himself up, but Rose applied her hands firmly to his back, preventing him from doing so..

"Don't get up, not until Jade gets here."

He didn't reply but instead slowly rolled over, grinning awkwardly at her. "Is this okay, then?"

"Yes, I suppose." She shook her head and took his hand, patting at it gently. The rest of the afternoon went by in silence while John groaned and breathed, unwilling to speak more unless Rose spoke up first. She was likewise unwilling to speak up, feeling that no words were required at the moment.

Soon enough, evening had come and Jade still hadn't returned, but Rose hadn't heard footsteps from Dave; she assumed he had gone off to tell the mayor, and perhaps Jade had just forgotten where the well and stream were. She didn't dare pose this suggestion to John, for even she didn't believe it. Most likely, Jade had gotten accosted in some way or other.

After a few more hours, Rose had given up on waiting and ended up dragging a chair in from the kitchen table to plant next to John's bed, and now she was quietly knitting a shawl for Jade while John slept off the pain, clutching a pillow tightly in his hands and covered under a quilt

Before she knew it, she'd fallen asleep and then woken up to smell something cooking, likely that rabbit stew that she had brought in the other day. Rubbing her eyes, Rose put down her knitting beside John, who was still sound fast and curled up, then stood and followed the scent.

Jade was standing in front of the pot, which had been hooked up over the fireplace in the kitchen, and she was stoking the fire, trying to reheat the stew. Dave was nowhere to be seen, but his gun was missing, so Rose assumed he had indeed left to inform the mayor.

"Hello," said Rose as she approached Jade; Jade stiffened out of surprise, but soon relaxed when she realized it was Rose.

"Hi!" Jade responded, turning around to grin happily at Rose. She had already taken care of herself, parts of her body swathed in gauze and cloth. Rose wouldn't be surprised if John, too, was now taken care of under that quilt.

"Did you get the water?" Rose inquired as she took a seat in the kitchen, folding her hands in her lap.

"Yes," Jade answered happily as she stood, pleased with the flame's intensity. "I saw you brought rabbit stew, thanks! I was starving last night when I came back, but I only ate a bit! There's still a lot left."

"That's good," said Rose. She sighed and leaned forward, putting her face in her hands for a few moments, rubbing her eyelids, forehead, and cheekbones. She felt so tired. There was something she felt that she needed to know, however.

"Jade?"

"Yes?"

"Why did you take so long to get back?"

"Oh!" Jade sounded startled; it clearly hadn't occurred to her to explain. "Oh, that! I kind of came back with the water in the middle of Dave getting in a fight with the Mayor... They were fighting over about whether or not to hunt the wolf, and I had to speak up. Of course, the mayor wouldn't listen to me since I'm a girl, but then Dave decked him in the mouth and he finally listened. He agreed to send the men off to hunt the wolf, and some ladies said they're coming too." Jade chuckled, taking the lid off of the pot.

"I kind of want to join them, but Dave told me to stay here and look after you and John."

"That's... nice of him," said Rose. She felt somewhat insulted that Dave couldn't trust her to look after John, but what's said is said.

"Regardless, let's have lunch and then make sure John's fine, then we can sew together."

"Or read! I'd rather read than sew. Please?"

Rose chuckled, shaking her head. "Fine, you win this time. Next time, however, you shall not."

"That's fair!" Jade agreed, racing off to fetch the bowls for eating.

Rose went back to her house with a full stomach and a brain that was brainstorming novels for when she would secretly write late at night, always practicing her penmanship.

She spent the rest of the night writing out sparse ideas, mostly about women who would face horror monsters that were in love with them, whom only wanted to please the women and make their lives pleasant at the risk of their own lives, usually ending in tragedy. Oh yes, it was rather fun to make up silly stories that even Dave might sniffle at.

She fell asleep within a few moments of putting her quill to rest.

***

The next few weeks went smoothly; Dave and the other men went out on daily ventures to hunt down the wolf, and Rose kept going to the Egberts' to check on them and make sure Jade hadn't burnt the house, and kept up this daily regimen.

At last, about a week later, when the moon was bright and round, a howl split through the air while Rose was sitting in her seat comfortably, sewing and teaching Jade how to sew, as was their deal a few weeks ago. Rose's head shot up when she heard the howl, and she saw Jade tense, eyes wide.

"Oh God," she cried and sprang to her feet, throwing down her sewing supplies, "I got to go! John--"

And with that, she was out the door; Rose heard a gunshot. Must be the men in the village. With a groan, Rose got to her feet and glanced out the door, looking around. Moonlight streaming around the area - it was eerie and beautiful, yet it sent chills down her spine, and she knew that it wasn't the cold wintery air. 

Orange flashed in front of her, and she let out a small gasp as the wolf ignored her, leaping and avoiding bullets that pierced the still air. It would snarl when it came near someone, lash out with its claws, and then avoid the oncoming bullet. Why it had come to their village, Rose didn't know, but she knew that it was dangerous. "Get inside," Dave shouted at Rose as he ran past, "Lock the goddamn door, don't open it until you hear me say it's okay! Where's Jade and John?!"

"John's in his home, I would like to think, and I have no idea where Jade went, she took off as soon as she heard the first howl!"

"Damn!" Dave spat before training his eyes on the wolf, aiming with his rifle. "Get inside, Rose, I'll look for Jade when this stupid slavering thing goes away!"

"Fine!" Rose shouted back, more frantic than anything else, as she took shelter inside again, slamming the door and deadbolting it.

It was a few sustained hours' worth of howling, gunshots, and shouts from men before it all faded; Rose had been huddling in front of the door, her hands held over her head just in case something broke the glass in the windows. Exercising caution, Rose stayed planted to the spot for a few moments before standing up and placing her hands on the deadbolt.

"Rose," shouted Dave, "It's over, it's dead. It shouldn't be bothering us anymore, we're fine."

She let out a sigh of relief before she undid the deadbolt, peeking outside cautiously. The wolf certainly was dead, lying still with scarlet blood running down its side, matting its blood--its face was frozen in a defiant snarl, its eyes narrowed and teeth bared, claws flexed and body tensed. She supposed someone had managed to shoot it while it was preparing to pounce.

Well, time to relax; she'd let Dave handle the thing and... She would check on Jade and John tomorrow, or make Dave. Sighing once again with relief, Rose slowly stumbled into bed and pulled her covers over herself, not caring to change into bedwear; she was far too tired for even that.

***

The first thing Rose expected to see when she awoke at this god-forsaken hour was to be David, smirking and proclaiming that he had a wolf head trophy to put over their fireplace. This, unfortunately, was not what she saw. One of the very last things she expected to see was Jade, naked and drenched in blood, sobbing her eyes out on the side of Rose's bed.

Again, unfortunately for poor tired Rose, this was what she saw. and it indeed was not a dream.

"Jade."

"Yes?" stuttered Jade.

"What," said Rose, struggling to contain a yawn, "in the world are you doing in my house, naked and just about completely covered in blood, at this unholy hour? Please tell me it's not your blood or I will be rather sick."

"I-it's not my blood, don't worry. Though... Oh god, John-" Rose felt her stomach sink, "--he's covered in blood too, and.. I think he got hurt by that monster last night--"

Silently, Rose crawled across the bed and wrapped her arms around Jade, wincing as her clothes and hands made contact with the sticky blood. Silence stood for a few minutes while she held Jade, slowly rocking her back and forth in an attempt to calm her. Realizing that Jade needed to be prompted, she spoke up again.

"That wolf."

"Yes, and-and..."

"Quiet down--"

“What am I going to do, Rose?” Jade said hopelessly, unable to keep her voice from breaking.

“I don’t know, Jade. I don’t know.”

Rose could think of absolutely nothing to comfort Jade with. She stayed silent, still embracing Jade. After coughing a few times, Jade spoke again, her tone quite deadened.

"Rose, I... think John's been doing bad things ever since that wolf attacked us last month."

"What makes you think that?" Inquired Rose, though she thought she already knew.

"I don't know," murmured Jade. "He's just been... so evasive, and..." She shuddered.

"And...?"

"I think he's been doing bad things," Jade repeated. Rose sighed and took to rubbing Jade's back gently; she would get nothing more out of Jade, Rose knew. Jade was far too into shock now, and Rose sighed, patting her back.

"There, there. Why are you naked, however?"

"I was about to go wash myself in the tub," said Jade, "this morning before I came over, but then John came in and he was bleeding and... I guess I panicked and..."

"Calm down," Rose ushered softly. "Calm down, we'll go check on him." She got to her feet and pulled on a few petticoats before finding one of Dave's shirts for Jade, assuming that she'd rather not get any dresses bloody. "We'll get you washed up while you're at your home, too."

Jade merely nodded, her eyes puffy and red from crying, her cheeks and red equally red now. She sniffled, and Rose reached out to pull the shirt on Jade, making sure that it covered everything that mustn't be seen. Pleased with this, Rose took Jade's hand and began gently steering her toward the Egberts' home.

"B-but what if he's dead?" she wailed.

"He isn't," Rose interjected.

"He was walking in and then he collapsed and--"

"Calm down, please, Jade."

"I'm trying!" wailed Jade, her voice becoming frantic and full of sorrow.

"Then you shall succeed eventually," said Rose plainly, squeezing Jade's hand. She looked up; Jade had gone silent and was beginning to sob quietly, and she realized that they had reached the Egberts'.

As Jade walked off, beginning to hiccup from how much she'd been crying, Rose decided to take a detour to John's room and check on him. When she reached it, she heard a yell and a curse. How extraordinary; John didn't normally swear, and when he did, it wasn't in a rage.

She pressed her ear to the door, listening cautiously while yelling and shattering rang throughout the house. She was surprised by how unworried Jade seemed - in fact, she hadn't heard anything from Jade since she had gone off by herself - but decided to remain intact, listening until the sounds quieted down to sobbing and half-hearten swearing. Eventually, even the swearing stopped until there was only heavy sobbing.

"John?" Rose dared to call softly, moving the knob somewhat. She heard him give a few choking sobs, but when she was about to leave him alone, he let out a small whisper that she couldn't hear. She assumed it was for her to come inside, however, so she did, closing the door gently behind herself.

"John?" Rose inquired again as she slowly came over, holding out a hand for him to take should he need closure. He seemed to be covered in blood as well, although not in as great quantities as Jade was. She was worrying about whether or not one of them had been caught in last night's wolf attack, now.

"Y-yeah?" said John.

"Why... exactly are you destroying your own house?" Another question occurred to her to ask, but she would ask it after John calmed down.

"I'm just..." He groaned. "I don't know. I feel so destructive lately; I hate it."

Rose sighed and, for the third time that day, embraced someone covered in blood, pressing him to her chest. Thankfully, unlike Jade, he wasn't naked; he was wearing trousers after all. He returned her embrace, wrapping his arms weakly around her waist. She got the distinct feeling that he was afraid to hug tightly lest he hurt her, and sighed as she patted at his head.

"You Egberts," she said with faint amusement, "aren't having a good day, are you?"

"Huh?" He frowned and pulled away, blue eyes dull with worry. "Is Jade okay? I think I may have accidentally... hurt her."

"She's fine; a bit frazzled perhaps, but she's very worried about you. After she's done with her bath, I will command that you take a bath as well."

"Yeah," John agreed. "That's a good idea."

"That it is," said Rose. There was a pronounced lack of noise before she broke it again, speaking gently. "Where are your parents?"

"They decided to go to another town," said John. "They should've been back a week or so ago, but we're on our own a lot anyway." He shrugged. "I'm not too worried about them; I'm more worried about you, Dave, and Jade."

"And what of Becquerel?"

She had noticed the lack of Becquerel, and was beginning to wonder about where in the world he had gone.

"I have no idea," mumbled John. "He disappeared last night, after that wolf attack... I think he ran off. Or maybe he just went somewhere safe; he'll appear again sometime, I'm sure. He always does."

Rose hoped that she was just imagining the deadened tone in John's voice.

Choosing to distract herself, she glanced around the room, finally taking in its appearance. Furniture lay ruined, chairs broken and splintered, and glass was strewn all over, some of it stained with blood, most of it shattered. Some of the curtains were torn, and there were large claw gouges in the walls. She supposed the wolf from the night before had caused some destruction before it finally fell to the men's guns, and John had caused the rest.

"Hey," called Jade from the other side of the door, "I'm done with my bath! Is John okay?"

"Yes, he is," Rose answered before she glanced at John, attempting to give him a warm smile. This was hard when he seemed so determined to be some version of him that wasn't really there. "Bathtime for you now, John. Don't dilly-dally."

With a grunt, John got to his feet and slowly trudged out the door; Jade entered after him, took a glance around the room, and let out a sharp breath.

"Wow."

"I know," sighed Rose. "I'd like to know why that wolf came back as well. I would have thought it was too scared of Dave to come anywhere near our village."

Once again, there was a lack of noise and Rose sighed. It seemed to be time for her to leave, so she rose to her feet and strode to the front door. "Take care of yourselves," she told them. "I'll be back in a few days to check on you again, particularly John."

She was about to step out the door when she stopped and sighed. "Jade, come here."

The other girl obliged, face contorted in confusion. "What is it, Rose?"

"Be careful," Rose warned Jade. "You seem to be right, as always, about feeling that John is doing... bad things. He seems volatile, so please exercise caution."

"Okay," said Jade. "You be careful with Dave too! He's still on guard even after that wolf died last night."

Rose sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Men," she uttered out of strong annoyance. Jade gave a giggle before agreeing, then waving as she watched Rose continue on her path back home.

Over the next few days, Rose kept hearing from Jade that John had suddenly developed an insatiable desire for meat, going out every three days to hunt for whatever animals he could find, even though it was still barely winter.

She said she didn't exactly mind - meat was delicious when you got it after all - but she was also worried, because eating meat reminded her far too much of Becquerel and he hadn't been around for a while. Apparently, Jade stayed up late every night, sitting outside with whatever she could manage to sneak past John's eyes, calling out into the night for her faithful dog.

It wasn't until two weeks later that Rose, while strolling in the woods and discussing with Jade about Dave and John, was interrupted by Jade in the middle of her tangent about how Dave kept joining John on his hunts.

"What is it?" Rose questioned, feeling somewhat surly about being interrupted as she had been about to mention a few things Dave had told her about how John behaved on the hunts. She got no answer, other than Jade pulling on her sleeve. Rose realized that Jade was whimpering, biting her lip in an attempt not to wail; Rose could already see the tears beginning to gather.

Rose frowned and tried to articulate a question as she followed Jade's gaze. Reasonably, her question was completely lost in what she saw. There laid Becquerel in the middle of the part of the woods they had just emerged in.

Or, at least, Rose thought it was Becquerel; she couldn't tell when his fur was torn that badly, nor when he was completely red and pretty much just a pile of bones and flesh. It looked like something, probably a bear, had managed to get ahold of him. Cold calm spreading over her, Rose approached the corpse and prodded at it, frowning as her suspicions seemed to be correct; he indeed had been torn apart by some type of animal.

"Jade," said Rose. "Go get Dave or John. No, just get Dave. Tell him to bring his wheelbarrow; we'll bury him in the back of your house..."

She didn't take a moment to hesitate, instantly running off and shrilly yelling for Dave the entire way. A few hours later, Dave had returned with the wheelbarrow in tow as well as a shovel and, for some reason, a flintlock pistol slung off his belt. Ever the on-guard gentleman, she supposed.

"You take the shovel, I'll take his legs," said Dave, but Rose had already taken the dog's paws and was already attempting to lift him into the wheelbarrow. Dave rolled his eyes and took action, shoveling Becquerel.

They held a small "funeral" for Becquerel, by lieu of Jade's wishes. She cried and gave a very small speech which equated to nothing more than "I'll miss you, boy," and then retired to bed rather early, still sobbing. After she had retired, Rose sighed and glanced tiredly at her hands. So much blood was literally on her hands for the last few months that she thought she was beginning to become rather desensitized to it. Dave grunted and punched John in the shoulder; John, instead of wincing, growled, and headed inside.

"Rose," Dave said, but Rose shook her head.

"What?"

"If you're going to be that irritable, I don't think that even I want to deal with you," she said bluntly before striding back home.

***

The next day, Jade came over with something clutched in her hands, her eyes still puffy. She'd been doing a lot of crying lately, it seemed. She did have good reasons, though, but Rose turned her attention to something that demanded it more: The bundle in Jade's arms.

Jade sighed and held out her arms, grinning awkwardly; it was an odd choice of an expression, especially considering the previous day.

"Here," Jade said as she thrust the package into Rose's arms, taking a step backward to smile sadly while she watched. Rose slowly pried the cloth apart to find a knitted scarf within; clearly, Jade had wanted to show her that she took Rose's words to heart and was actually taking in what she taught the younger girl.

"Thank you," said Rose sincerely. She placed the bundle on her rocking chair, then wrapped the scarf around her neck, before finally wrapping her arms around Jade in a rather tight hug.

She sent Jade back home, promising that she would knit a scarf for Jade as well.

***

Exactly a week and three days later, Rose noted that it was, once again, the full moon. It should be fine, though; that wolf - despite it being odd that it once came only by the full moon - was dead, for good. Dave had made sure to chop its head off and taxidermy it into a trophy, which was now placed over the fireplace, forever snarling defiantly, its pale eyes glistening even by the light. She glanced over it and shuddered to see its eyes shining brightly in the moonlight; it was only by moonlight that its eyes gained that unnatural shine, despite being so very dead.

She had to admit, it was quite jarring to wake up to it in the morning, but she had long since learned how to stop herself from gasping when she saw it staring down at her.

Letting out a sigh of relief to herself, she took up what was done of Jade's scarf so far and settled down into her favorite rocking chair, slowly beginning a rhythm of both rocking and knitting. One line, a few rocks that squeaked a melodramatic tune, another line, the next few notes of the tune, line, more notes, line, yet more notes, line, a howl that shot through the night, line--

Wait. A howl? She shook her head, supposing it was the coyotes; after all, David had gone hunting earlier that day with John, and they had caught a rather large number of rabbits, and she supposed John had forgotten to take his along with hm.

No more howling came after a few minutes of waiting, so she pleasantly continued with her knitting, quite satisfied with the fact that it seemed to be just a hungry coyote stealing John's left-behind hare. A few more lines done, and then Rose held the scarf up in front of her eyes, gauging its length, determining how long Jade would like it to be. She usually liked them rather long, so she could cover both her nose and neck with it for more warmth.

She would need to add quite a bit more of yarn, then; this was barely even enough to cover Jade's neck. Rose let out a laugh, then resumed knitting. Oh, it scared her how well she knew her friends and brother. As she knitted, she squeaked more notes from the chair, pondering memories long ago of her cherished ones.

When David was a small boy and she was a barely older girl, she had had to save him from a nest of angry bees; he hadn't been happy that day, but Mother had patched up that easily before going off to the local bar to get drunk. Rose hadn't been happy that day either, actually... Her Mother drank too much when she was alive, and Rose sighed, resting her hands and needles on her lap for a few moments to purse her lips and furrow her brows.

Father had been quite uncouth too; he often went off hunting and she supposed that was where David had picked it up from. Yes, that seemed about correct. As for Jade and John, well...

Her favorite memory was of going to the lake with them; Jade had caught a snake - in her mouth, no less! - and John was flailing, trying to get her to let go of it and trying to tell her not to bring it near him at the same time. Jade had had just a silly grin on her face when she let the snake free into the grass, and John had ended up laughing about it while Rose just rolled her eyes from across the lake. Now Rose was wishing she'd swam with them that day, especially considering that her cheerful, care-free days with John and Dave were now gone. Jade was another case, but she was so depressed these days that it was hard to get her to do anything.

John and Dave were much too serious; Rose sighed. She wondered, sometimes, if she was the only non-broken one left in their small circle. It certainly seemed to be like that.

Quietly, she returned to her knitting, uncaring for the squeaking of tunes now. Line, pause, check length, a couple of lines, check length again and this time, determine just how many lines she'd need; she was determined to finish this in the next three days...

She stopped knitting completely, glancing up. She had felt a presence, and now she was startled to find that it certainly wasn't just her imagination. Before she could register more than an orange gaze and a snarl, the wolf had rushed off. The one on the wall was brown; this one was jet-black, and the only reason she had noticed it there was that it had seemed to be staring intently at her for some reason. In fact, she could still see the steam on the window where it had been breathing heavily.

"Dave," she called out weakly, her voice shaking.

"What?" he answered back, wandering into the room, an eyebrow raised. "What is it, Rose? Did something come and scare you? Was it a mouse?"

"No," said Rose. She sighed and attempted to continue knitting, despite her fingers shaking. "It was another wolf."

Dave swore and ran off; Rose watched his back for a few moments, then kept knitting. This wolf didn't seem as violent, somehow, but she wasn't going to swear it off as non-dangerous, not quite yet. It was probably trying to lure her in, and she wasn't going to fall for it. Ignoring it, she returned to her knitting.

One line, two line, three lines, and a howl split through the air, then a few gunshots, as was the custom tonight, apparently. She could no longer focus on her knitting, so she gave up, stood, and put her knitting down on the rocking chair before striding to the window and looking out it, watching. The men of the village - Mayor Jack, Mr. Diamonds, Dave, and a few others - were chasing it down as it howled and tore through everything, leaping to and fro, even a few times striking out at them with teeth or claws. She noted that it seemed to be dotted with a bit of blood, as were the men; she wondered whose blood it was. The men's, or the wolf's?

Now that she saw it in comparison with the men, she noted that it was rather large - just like the one that David had killed some time ago. She wondered if this was normal for wolves, or if it was an abnormal wolf. If it was a normal wolf, well, she would have to say that she'd prefer not to meet any bgger ones.

It fled beyond the moon-colored forest, and Dave swore at it, much like the first night she'd seen one. He swore again as he entered the house, resting his gun against the wall and gritting his teeth. He clearly wasn't too happy about the town becoming infested with wolves suddenly.

The rest of the night went by in surprisingly non-paranoid sleep; she slept quite soundly, and no more noises came other than Dave's annoyed grunts every once in a while.

***

It wasn't until three days later that she finally got the chance to visit Jade and John again, but when she did, she made sure to take an extra-large pot of stew along with some loaves of bread. The last time that she'd been there, both had looked more scrawny than usual, and she surmised they hadn't been eating because John didn't get to go out hunting much or otherwise didn't catch much nowadays, and also that Jade did not possess very many cooking skills. John did possess cooking skills, but he seemed to only want to eat meat and nothing else.

So, it was up to her to make sure they wouldn't starve to death. What a grim task, but it was made darker by the fact that she thought she would enjoy being their caretaker--it made her feel like she was of some worth, rather than being some useless woman who stayed at home and knitted socks for her non-existent children.

When she finally reached their home, she wasn't too surprised by the chaos that laid around. Windows had been shattered, some blood was dotted around, and some wood had been splintered off the rest of the house, and she could swear that there was smoke rising from the chimney, as if someone was cooking something right now. Maybe John had managed to hunt some game at last.

She knocked three times in rapid succession, taking the silence that answered her as a "come in". Jade and John both trusted her, so she thought it would be alright to grasp the doorknob and open it, closing it behind herself.

She could hear whispering, but she still made it through the halls of the house, knocking quietly on the walls as she went. The more she listened, the more frantic it sounded until she was at a door, pressing her ear to it and eavesdropping again.

"I'm sorry," John was saying in a calm, pained voice; Rose couldn't tell if it was physical or if he was pained because of something Jade had done.

"I didn't mean to hurt you," he added in a hushed tone, and Rose realized she could hear whimpering in the room; she assumed it was Jade.

"I- I guess I know that," said Jade. There was a hiccup, then she resumed. "I didn't mean to hurt you either, but you were there and - and you were, and -" At this point, Jade had lost all coherency; she was now mumbling and trying to make sentences but failing.

"I'm aware," said John. "I'm sorry. I was... I don't know what I was thinking. You need to bear with me, though; this is all scary for me too."

There was a period of silence, then Jade spoke up again.

"It's okay, John. Look - it stopped bleeding!"

"That's good. Mine stopped bleeding too. It looks like we'll be fine. I don't know how we're going to hide this from Rose, though..."

"You don't have to," said Rose after she had summoned the courage to open the door. They were both sitting: Jade on the floor, rubbing at her leg, and John bent over her, wrapping more gauze around her arm. Rose didn't care to ask them to unwrap the gauze so she could see how bad the wounds were, but she did care to usher them to their feet. "I'm aware that you two are hurt." She sighed. "I'd like to know how you keep getting hurt, especially when these wolves appear..."

John blanched; Rose took note of this and pursed her lips, but said nothing.

She made sure they actually proceeded to the kitchen table, then served them heaping bowlfuls of the still-hot stew. John inquired if it had any meat, and she answered that it didn't, but he was more than free to add anything if he wished to. He didn't, but neither of the Egberts touched their bread or food, and it worried Rose to know just how scrawny they were now; she could see that Jade's ribs were protruding, and neither of them seemed to have a luster to their skin anymore. They looked more pale than she had ever seen them, and she was wondering just what they were doing in the time that she didn't see them.

"John," said Rose, "why don't you eat anything but meat anymore?"

She got no reply, and realized that she must have overstayed; Jade was glancing down into her bowl, and John was peering at her with a suspicious but friendly gaze. He still trusted her, but he didn't know what she was doing, and it was this that he was suspecting. 

She got to her feet and headed to the entrance without a word, only speaking up when she reached it. "Farewell, and I hope you two feel better soon," she said before she waved slightly, aware that she was waving and speaking to thin air since neither of them had decided to follow.

Home, when she reached it, was quite loud, shouts rising from inside. It sounded as if a mob had formed, in fact.

"Rose," said Dave as he exited the house, "They're planning on moving soon. They think they know why there's so many werewolves lately." He shook his head. "At this point, it seems the most likely."

"What...?" Rose couldn't think of anything else to say.

"They think it's a werewolf; they think the one on our wall was a werewolf too." He frowned. "It ... makes sense, I guess. I thought they were just a myth, but that would explain why they only appear on the full moon."

Dave rolled his eyes, grunted, and balled his hands up into fists. "I assume you can tell who they're suspecting," he mumbled. "They've got no proof though; they're going to wait for a few weeks, see if they've got probable cause to break into the Egberts', and then they'll hang John."

Rose frowned; she, too, had come to this conclusion--John's refusal to eat anything but meat, his violent urges, everything being chaotic around their home, him being bloody every time that the full moon came around, and frightening Jade... He'd been trying to hide it, likely trying to hide in the forest or run off far enough that he wouldn't come back to the town until the full moon passed. She supposed sometimes he didn't leave early enough, and he must've been the one that tore up Becquerel. Perhaps he had even given Jade guns to keep in her room should he attempt to attack her. Rose really could see that happening, and recalled seeing a gun in Jade's room the last time she'd bothered to check, at least a month ago.

Poor, poor Jade.

It might be best to put John out of his misery, Rose thought, but still would prefer not to see John dead. Over the next two weeks, she did a good amount: Making sure John's house was repaired, cleaning up glass, recruiting Jade to force potato stew down his throat (and also making him help her force some down Jade's own throat; she, too, had become used to the meat-only diet), washing the blood out of all of their clothes, mending torn clothes... even managing to ill in cracks in the walls and rebuilding all the chairs.

She recruited Dave for more of the heavy work, of course, but they seemed to have it done quite quickly, considering the time constraints they were within.

In the least, it didn't seem like total destruction anymore.

Rose and Dave didn't dare tell John and Jade what they now knew, though Rose was fairly sure that John already knew. Regardless, none of them dared to bring it up.

Finally, after another couple of days, she and Dave had to attend the village meeting to find out about their verdict.

Mayor Jack was raving quite loudly by the time they finally reached the village's center; a few of the villagers had pitchforks and seemed to have been called quickly from feeding their livestock. Most of the men were shaking their heads or rolling their eyes, obviously disagreeing with what Jack was saying about the Egberts-- or at least, John. He was saying that John was the werewolf, that they needed to hang him so he wouldn't spread the "disease" further, so that all the werewolf attacks would stop.

It took most of the day for Mayor Jack to manage to rile everyone up, and by nightfall, they had thrown down their pitchforks and were making their way for the Egberts'.

There, Jack ordered that they break down the door. Before they could begin attempting, however, John opened it and strode outside, looking grim but set in his ways.

"It's okay," said John. "I'll go."

He let the villagers tie his wrists without complaining, let them lead him roughly to the village center, and let them set him up on the gallows, placing him over the hinged door. Rose had hoped John would request for a bag to be put over his head, but instead, he only demanded that they not let Jade watch. He stood, eyes closed behind his glasses, as he awaited his fate. It was as the noose was being slipped around his neck that someone cried out, "He's not the werewolf!"

Rose glanced to the night sky immediately, realizing that this person was correct: The full moon was roaming tonight, its luminescent color beaming down on the village.

She glanced at the person, whom turned out to be Mr. Diamonds. He was seething; clearly, the werewolf must be someone else, as John wasn't effected by the moon's presence.

The moon slid behind a cloud and the villagers began talking to each other: do they still hang John and let his corpse attract the werewolf, or do they let him loose, since he's clearly not the guilty one?

Of what Rose could hear, she surmised they would let John go. Indeed, when she turned her eyes back to the gallows, the executioner was removing the noose from around John's neck. John didn't look relieved, however. He looked more grim than ever, his brows lowering. Rose knew why this was, and she supposed she should have figured it out a long time ago, but now wasn't the time to think about it, not while it was too dangerous right now--

The cloud swam from in front of the moon, and moonlight once again swathed the clearing. This time, however, there was a quite loud yell from somewhere behind Rose. She turned around, as if in slow-motion, to see Jade bent over and clutching herself, yelling bloody murder and clawing at her sides with her hands. The villagers cleared away as Jade's hair grew longer and more shaggier, and they cried out to go get guns as Jade's face began elongating, as her ears started moving and becoming pointy. One or two of the villagers might've blushed in modesty when they saw Jade literally rip off her clothes before kneeling on the ground, hands splayed and body tense, shoulders rising. A tail exploded from the base of her spine as her feet and claws began growing and becoming paws, the nails growling into claws.

It was only while she watched Jade's transformation (unable to look away, unfortunately for her) that Rose realized the gravity of the whole situation. Jade had shown up at her house all these months ago before because it must've been her first transformation. Jade must've been the one developing a taste for meat, or at least John was trying to keep her fed with plenty of meat so that she wouldn't be as likely to attack. Unfortunately for him, game had begun disappearing the more Jade transformed.

She must've been the one to tear apart Becquerel, and she must've been the one to destroy the Egberts' house all of these times. It also explained why she was horribly hurt as of late; Rose supposed John had covered Jade's wounds first, before Rose came over, so that she wouldn't see bullet holes or bullets sticking out. She wondered how Dave would cope with the fact that he'd been shooting at Jade all this time, especially coupled with his sexism.

She was in such a haze that she didn't notice Jade's eyes had turned orange, that her body had become completely covered in black fur, and that she was leaping at random targets, lashing out with pearly claws and frothing at the mouth as she did so. Rose was only awakened from her haze when a loud howl echoed before claws made contact with her chest, white-hot pain shooting through her nerves. Rose dropped to the ground, groaning and clutching her chest while the werewolf stood over here, teeth all bared in a bloodcurdling howl. Rose tried to call out for Dave not to shoot Jade, but he ignored her and hefted a rifle that he had stolen from one of the other villagers.

"Best to put her out of her misery than let her live with this curse," he growled before he fired, a violent explosion going off at the mouth of the rifle. A howl of pain escaped Jade, but she leaped for the source rather than running away, claws extended and muscles rippling. She went straight for the jugular on David, but he managed to hit her in the face with the butt of the rifle. It did nothing to discourage her from attacking, but it did affect her aim enough to protect his vital areas.

Rose clutched herself, huddling in the middle of the clearing--no use in moving; Jade would probably attack anything that moved. Glancing around carefully, Rose saw that John was shouting at Jade to calm down and to stop, that she was still Jade. But even Rose knew that Jade was too far gone in a fearsome mix of instinct and hatred. Before long, she'd managed to strike out at somebody's jugular successfully; Mr. Diamonds cried out, and then before Rose could realize it, Jade had torn off with Mayor Jack clutched in her jaws. She disappeared as the villagers swore after her and shot at her, trying to at least nick her badly, but even with a limp, the werewolf was fast.

Dave swore as he held out a hand for Rose; she didn't accept, so instead, Dave offered her his coat to press to her chest and stop the bleeding. This she took him up on, and then she was yanked to her feet by her shoulders, Dave grimacing. When he made sure that she wouldn't bleed out anytime soon, Dave rounded on John.

"You bastard!" he shouted as he clocked John in the face; John didn't try to dodge, and instead reeled before straightening up, clutching his now-bleeding, likely broken nose.

"Why the hell didn't you tell us?! We could've helped!"

John shook his head.

"There's no damn cure for it; all I would've done by telling you two was make you two scared for her life, and also mine by extension. I was doing pretty good at keeping her under control," snapped John, "until you two had to go and shove your noses in, especially Rose. But hey, at least Rose didn't try to shoot Jade!"

"You know I feel bad for that," snapped Dave, "But I'm pretty sure you had shotguns to keep her at bay for when you couldn't bring her out to the forest."

The way John looked down at his feet, balling his hands up by his sides, and didn't answer, suggested Dave was right. 

"Either way," murmured Rose, "by morning, they'll likely go into the forest and look for her. She'll probably be cold and frightened for her life, and ... Well, to be frank, as a human, she doesn't have many survival skills other than her skill with a gun. As a wolf, she's much more suited for it, but..." She shook her head.

"John."

"What?" growled John as she paused.

"Did she kill your parents, too?"

"Yes," said John plainly, without emotion. "She came home, crying and covered in blood, a few months ago. Turns out she knows what she does as a wolf, but is too consumed with hate and hunger to really control herself outside of stopping herself from attacking, sometimes. It's just... surprising that she remembered where they were, and... The worst thing was, I was pretty ready for it."

John rubbed his forehead with a tired hand before glancing at Rose, giving a half-heartened smile.

"...At least I don't have to hide it anymore. I'm impressed that the ploy to get you all to think that it was me and not her worked, though." he shook his head. "I... don't want her to get hung, or shot."

"It might be for the best, however," said Rose softly. "If you can't figure out some way for her to handle it."

There was no answer, and Rose decided to fill in the deafening silence with a question.

"We all got hurt by the wolf... werewolf all these months ago, right? So why is it that only Jade has transformed?"

"She got bit," said John. "Only bites, that victims survive, affect them for some reason. Clawing doesn't do anything. It just hurts for a bit longer than normal clawing from other animals would; I really don't know why only the bites work."

Rose contemplated this for a few moments before crossing over to embrace John, closing her eyes.

"It will all be alright eventually. For now, we should rest; in the morning, we'll find Jade before the other villagers can. They won't be venturing out into the night."

John grunted in agreement, as did Dave, and both headed to Rose's house; Rose remained in the clearing for a few moments. After watching the villagers stumble slowly back, she followed the boys, and had a quite fitful night of sleep, rolling, turning, and dreaming of Jade transforming for an eternity in front of her; every "night" in the dream, she got torn apart by Jade; every "night," Jade looked horror-struck before she transformed; every "night," a red moon was quite apparent, coloring the entire dream red and black.

***

She awoke to a bloody hand on her pillow, and immediately shot up, crying out for Dave and John; the two men gave startled cries in other parts of the house and hurried into the room. Rose had calmed down since then, however, and now realized that it was simply Jade, exhausted and slumped over her bed; there was a good amount of blood leading into the room, footsteps that became more inhuman the further they got - Jade must've come in with the intent to kill, but had transformed back before she could. Perhaps she'd fallen asleep from how exhausted she was, or perhaps she had cried herself asleep: Rose could see trails of tears still running down Jade's face, large bags under her eyes.

Rose glanced at John and Dave--if they were to put down Jade, the time would be now, while she was asleep and wouldn't feel anything.

Dave grunted, put a hand on John's shoulder, and John stalked off quietly. He returned within a few minutes with a pistol in his hands, staring down at it.

After a long while, he shoved it into Dave's hands and left the room. Dave walked over, aimed it at Jade's head, and set his finger on the trigger, staring intently at Jade. Rose quietly edged off of the bed and headed into the other room with John, noticing him sitting on the love seat. She sat next to him and embraced him, pressing her face into his hair.

"I ate Mayor Jack," whined a voice from the other room; Rose didn't think Jade had awoken--perhaps she was sleep-talking. "I ate him," she went on. "I ate him, I ate him."

She sounded tired; 'I ate him' was all she kept saying, repeating it over and over, more frantically the more she did.

Dave gave a loud yell of frustration and entered the room, slamming the door behind himself.

"I can't do it either," he growled. "We'll just go hide her in the forest or some crap, see if we can't find a cure."

"It won't last for long," Rose warned. "They'll inevitability find her, either by the next full moon when she's much more likely to attack, or before then, by luring her out with empty promises that they won't hurt her. On the other hand, they may be too terrified and disorganized without their mayor."

Dave opened his mouth, about to counter-argue, when a loud shattering interrupted him. John leapt to his feet and rushed through the room to the bedroom where Jade was, and Rose followed; footsteps behind her told her that David was coming too.

The windows were shattered; one of the stray chairs was missing, and as she looked through the window, she saw it still spinning where it'd landed. There were no doors in the room, so she supposed that Jade had chucked the chair then jumped through the window. a few splotches of blood still slowly sliding down the broken panes of glass supported this theory; Jade must've scratched herself jumping, and then there were further drops in the barren grass out there. They stopped after a while, however, indicating that she had wised up about leaving a trail.

All trails of Jade were gone now, and John and Dave set out, telling Rose to stay here safely and ward off any concerns from the townspeople.

The rest of the day went by in a blur: The sun rising, Dave shouting irritably, John becoming sullen, Rose trying to knit but failing, the townspeople rioting and demanding that they hand over Jade so they could hang her, stalking off and shouting to hunt her down, coming back without any news of her...

The sun eventually went down and Rose retired to bed early, hoping to the Lord that it all, everything, was just a horribly long, bad dream.

She woke to an especially clean room. the chair had been returned to where it was before Jade 'escaped', the window seemed to have been patched up, and there were several layers of blankets over her. 

She had a vague feeling that Jade was gone for good and that this was, indeed, not a dream, as she had hoped. Well, then. Time to adjust to life without Jade.

***

She did adjust, but it took much longer than she would have liked. Every year that went by, she would see any black-haired women of Jade's age and run up to them, ask if they were her, and get a "no, sorry, miss" or "no, go away" in return. She continued to do this over the next few years, no matter what her age, no matter the length of the woman's hair. After all, Jade might've cut her hair at some point in order to disguise herself.

She continued to knit clothes for Jade, continued to cook Jade's favorite foods as if she were still around (Dave and John would look somber whenever they realized that it was one of Jade's favorites; chicken stew or mashed potatoes with gravy), and continued to clean John's house for him, as if Jade were still around being her rowdy self.

The urge to clean John's house disappeared over the years, as he made sure to keep it clean and spotless so Rose wouldn't come over; she silently apologized each night to him for reminding him that his sister was out of his life, and Dave would immediately vacate the house whenever Rose began knitting something for Jade, or even if it was for him--knitting in general had begun to mean "oh no, Rose is brooding again" for poor David.

Over the years, she had amassed so many clothes that she decided to open a store and sell her homemade confections; the village, too, had changed over the years. It went from a wolf-ransacked village to a very phish-posh place, dotted with clean women and men wearing suits and petticoats, who were toting parasols everywhere with arms interlocked as they quietly whispered.

There were also the sounds of busy work as people worked away at forges, trying to make guns in case of more wolf attacks even though there hadn't been any for years. However, there were often gunshots off in the distance of men and some women killing prey for food. 

***

One Christmas Eve night, Rose was knitting quietly in front of the fireplace, rocking her chair slowly. Dave had already left to go drinking with his buds, and she was expecting gunshots anytime now--Dave loved to get into bar fights now, and was only subdued when threatened with gunfire.

She closed her eyes and began knitting by the feel of the yarns and needles, counting loops as she went.

One... Two... Three...

A knock.

...Four...

Another knock, louder and harsher this time.

...Five.

More knocks, and they came rapidly; she wasn't able to ignore it. With an irritated sigh, Rose put her crafting on the chair as she stood, and strode to the door, grasping the knob firmly. She opened her mouth, prepared to launch a derogatory comment or two (she wasn't able to decide between "What are you doing around here this late at night, you imbecile," or "Are you illiterate? The sign says the store is closed"). She was startled by arms entwining around her neck, forced to bury her face in soft hair--

"Jade?"

"Hehe, took you long enough!" chuckled the young woman. Jade let go of her and stepped back, grinning. She was considerably taller now, and seemed to have matured very well. There were large bags under her eyes and she was clad in a few petticoats, wearing a large, fancy hat, much like if she were rich. Rose wondered how this was possible, since Jade and John were "paupers" in the village before, and right now, Rose was wearing a silly shawl over semi-rich clothes. She could afford rich clothes by now, but she hadn't bothered. 

"These last few years..."

Rose hung onto Jade's every word, enjoying the timbre of her voice, that voice she hadn't heard in so long. Jade's voice had changed slightly; before, she was rather high-pitched and rowdy. Now, she sounded calmer and deeper, and it was so entrancing, oh so entrancing.

 

"...Have been crazy!" finished Jade just as Rose realized she had been staring. Clearing her throat to ward away the awkward lack of response, she nodded before speaking.

"Yes, they have. I've been knitting clothes for you every year in case you came back... Why didn't you come back earlier?"

Jade let out a derisive laugh.

"Rose, I... I couldn't come back until now. I had... to make sure all the hostility was gone."

Oh. Right. That.

"Speaking of that...How's it coping?"

"Pretty good," said Jade. She gave Rose a furtive glance, though.

"I'll be out of here before the moon comes, though, hopefully. I just... wanted to visit you and the others, and... make sure you know I'm okay. I've been doing fine. I go out to secluded places when the moon's coming, and..."

She let out a hollow chuckle, pressed herself to Rose and buried her own face into Rose's hair(not quite an accomplishment anymore, as Jade was at least half a foot taller now).

"I really wanted to see you guys at least once." Jade let out a sigh as she let Rose go, bustling around then closing the door, and finally putting her hat and scarf on the coat hoo as well as her fur-coat.

"I mean, at least once before I decide to leave here. I've been staying in the motel for a few days, but I couldn't fight the urge to see you again."

"I... see," Rose managed to croak before she finally recovered from the shock completely, prepared to cross into the kitchen. "I'll assume you want some kind of food?"

"No," said Jade. "I didn't come for food and besides, I ate before I left." She chuckled and strode over to the love seat, flopping down onto it and making herself comfortable. She patted the seat next to herself, indicating for Rose to sit down; Rose obeyed.

Once seated, Rose couldn't stop her eyes from wandering further. Jade really had matured well--her face was a lot more delicate now, not as childish as it had once been. She had a few scratches, though they were subtle, likely covered up with makeup. She looked somewhat firm in body stature, but held herself elegantly yet rigidly. She'd practiced elegance, then, to get by.

"Where did you get these clothes?" Rose inquired as she finally tore her eyes away, glancing at the scarf and hat on the coat-hanger.

"Bought them," murmured Jade. "I have a job now, I guess... Or at least, I did. I got a job as a cleaning-woman in a large mansion and the mistress died last year after writing in her will that I was to inherit it, along with everything else of hers, so there you go."

Somehow, Rose had the feeling that Jade was lying, but she didn't dare call out Jade on it. Rather, she didn't care to.

Jade departed during the night while Rose was asleep, and accompanying Jade for some reason, were Rose's hopes and dreams.


End file.
